Review: Fate/Zero (anime)

At first I wanted to combine the first season together with season 2, but then there’ll be a lot of mixed feelings. Because I find the second season much more exciting that the first. And the main reason is to see more of Broskander.... and to hear the OP by Kalafina.

Season 2 is simply the continuation of the first season, and there’s no ‘RESET’ story mode as seen in Code Geass and Kimi ni Todoke. Those who died in the previous season, just died. In this season we have 2 episodes for Emiya Kiritsugu (and more insert song by Kalafina aw yiss), on why he has such principles and his goals in reaching the Holy Grail.

After knowing what the Holy Grail is all about, I really think that the invention is pointless. And all the battles I saw is just totally a waste of time, a waste of property damage. And the fact that the Servants aren’t exactly having the same wavelength as their masters makes me think that it’s even more pointless. Oh but at least you have an (imaginary) friend to talk to, moreover, they’re heroes from ye olden days WHO WOULDN’T WANT THAT weh.

But I gotta admit they’re all really good and nice to watch. As I said in season 1, no abra kadabra POOF you turn into a frog thingy but you gotta use your magic wisely as though you’re in a real battle. Speaking of battles you’ll also see some jet fighting… which makes me wonder where the aircrafts came from. I don’t think it existed during Arthurian legend or Epic of Gilgamesh. But hey it’s magic! Gilgamesh, or also known as “Archer” does not even use bow and arrow to attack, but he opens up a portal to take out the collection of his huge dildos.

sorry i just had to post this w

Going back to Kiritsugu, the probably the second last episode made me go WOW about F/Z (other than Broskander and Yuki Kajiura). All this while I had been supporting Kiritsugu to win the battles (although I still fukken hate Saber) and KILL THE MAGES WITH FAIYAAAA~N , but then he’s given this psychological mindfuck and I got mindfucked as well. I felt guilty all over. Felt guilty for supporting him, felt guilty for having such mindset. But that particular episode OWNS and it made me realized how the second OP very much relates to Kiritsugu. And since then, when I listen to “to the beginning” I feel a sharp pain inside…

Speaking of endings, here’s a bit of spoiler… THE GOOD GUY DIDN’T WIN.

If you've seen or played Fate/Stay Night you would've known this spoiler already but still it answers your curiousity on how it happened. You might feel like your probably favourite team should’ve deserved to become the champion… but this isn’t a contest of how awesome you are as a character, or as partners . No matter how strong your servant is, doesn’t mean that you’re gonna win. No matter how smart you are as a Master, doesn’t mean you’re gonna win either. Ah, Holy Grail is about luck i guess?

And there’s nothing bad about that because we’ve all seen how often the good guys win, and how often the main team of a sports manga always have to win because the plot is about them. Now we see how the good guy had his ass kicked, and how the ‘bad guy’ is satisfied about his so-called goals. And it’s sad that the winner didn’t really have any great wishes to attain the grail, so it’s a waste that it was not given to the ‘supposed’ winner. But at least he did not destroy the whole world. Oh yeah, this is another story where the the shit only happens in one area but they act like it’s gonna affect the whole world, and everything had to happen in JAPAN although you obviously have gaijins as participants.

Art by Yukasu

While it is true that most of the characters are given backstories, I’m just sad that characters like Assassin and even Gilgamesh aren’t given any flashbacks. Assassin is like something to fill in the blanks in the Servants slot, they just can’t wait to finish him off. Gilgamesh on the other hand is just there like a douchebag acting like he deserves to be fangirled over. There doesn’t seem to be any development for this guy either cos he’s an arrogant bastard from the beginning to the end (if turning into a psycho ex kind of character is some kind of development then...okay...). And then there's Irisviel being the isteri solehah, which I personally don't like but sometimes having a character like that is OK.

There’s no need to tell me to start reading the novels or play the VNs etc to understand more about them, I pretty much can refer to their wikia. I’m disgusted by the mage system used in Fate series that I’d rather not indulge in it, disgusted by the battle royale, disgusted by how each of the characters want the Holy Grail for their own selfishness. Especially Saber… seriously, “restore Britain?”. Is she aware about how UK is during that time period? Probably the other Servants too have really dumb goals, unrealistic towards their current state of existence and makes this whole battle royale stupid – except for Broskander’s wish because IT MAKES MORE SENSE TO COME BACK TO LIFE AND DO WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT.

In spite of all that, this anime is highly recommended, but you gotta endure the dullness of the first few episodes of season 1 (I know some of you suffer this, I did too). And keep in mind there’s the awesome Servant called Rider/Iskander and there’s episode 24 to writhe in pain with. Battle scenes are great too. Oh yeah a friendly reminder; OST by Yuki Kajiura.

i have no regrets

Review: Brave 10 (anime)

I read the manga first, mainly because I like stories in historical setting.. and especially when it's in the sengoku period. The art is very eyecandy and the plot is, well... generic shonen plot but who cares. I'm in it for the hot guys.

Studio: Studio Sakimura

Original Author: Shimotsuki Kairi

Unfortunately, even with the hot guys, being limited to 13 episode makes the story look even more meh.  But since there wasn't much shounen during that season, this keeps me entertained. There are other attractive looking villains in the manga the anime didn't include, probably because it was unnecessary. There are also enjoyable 'filler' chapters in the manga the anime ignored.

Brave 10 is an adaptation of the fictional 'Sanada Ten Braves' story, with some extra stuff like fanservice superpowers based on elements (fire, water, lightning etc). While the original Braves are supposed to be ninjas, lead by Sarutobi Sasuke... However, Brave 10's protagonist is Kirigakure Saizou, a ninja of the Iga clan and the bloody useless Isanami, a slutty-looking priestess from Izumo. Yukimura Sanada needs to collect 10 people into his harem -regardless of gender- including the spineless priestess. This part is interesting since each of his harem member has their own specific powers. She's the only one annoying in the story and is kind of Mary Sue. Worse part is she holds the 'key' to something that moves the story. Other than his beloved harem, along the way Yukimura meets other historical figures like Masamune Date, Mitsunari Ishida etc.

You also have Takehito Koyasu as this fabulous version of Masamune Date. Cue eargasm.

Honestly I don't remember the OST or superb the animation is. Oh great this means that I really watched it for the fanservice... and seiyuus. Plus you really can't have a successful anime which has more than ten people compressed in 13 episodes D: The last few people recruited into the Braves didn't have the chance to develop.

Yet the most interesint character is Ana I think, but I'd rather not spoil much. Perhaps I'd talk about her more once I review the manga.

I'm not sure how the manga ends (haven't got there) but the way Brave 10 is really shitty when little miss annoying damsel reveals her true self. You know what, I always hated it when an anime is about to end cos they usually end it with something that makes you wanna flip your table. Another disappointment is that you don't get to see Yukimura in his crimson armour, but he's clad in sexy Yukata all the time flipping his fan. Which means that you don't get to see Yukimura being the awesome warrior of every thousand years in action =3=

whatever you say~

It's a shame for a historical-based story to turn out like this though. It could've turned out better. But to hell am I gonna indulge in some moeshit sengoku anime. I might as well play Sengoku Basara 3 after this.

I'd highly recommend this to girls if you want a kyaa-fest. To both girls and boys you can just ignore the anime and go straight to the manga. More bromance and you can also see more boobs there (in case you're a fan of boobs).

yeah I'm sure it's not w

Review: Persona 4 - The Animation

Studio: AIC Asta & Aniplex

When the anime version of Persona 4 is announced, I had mixed feelings. It is one of my favourite games, something I love more than Persona 3, so I was highly anticipating it. But video game (and visual novels) adaptations are known to turn out rather disappointing.

It doesn’t matter if I knew the story or not, but I thought I could preview the first few episodes to see how they make an animation out of it. Bad news; the art quality was meh. Good news; the presentation of the story is GREAT!

And that is one hell of a surprise as in the game it feels more slow paced, and more like a high school drama. The anime makes the story slightly faster, and they changed some of the scenes yet still staying true to the storyline, just to not make it like an exact copy of the video game.

I won't talk much about the plot as I've reviewed it in the video game here (warning may contain spoilers) like 3 years ago.

For those who has played the game, then you’ll know what I’m gonna talk about here; the individual “Shadow” scenes have something extra. A little more flashback and a little more details, especially for Yosuke and Chie. I also wondered if they did do something about the social links, because there’ll be only 20+ episodes, how are they able to fit in all the characters? But they did it anyway. Probably the only thing I’m disturbed with because the supporting characters social link went too fast, and some compiled in a few episodes making it seem like filler episodes to those who aren’t familiar with the system of the game. Even so, I think it’s an excellent way to adapt the social links in the anime. Even Nanako has a special episode just for herself – which I think it’s important for us to understand her loneliness and her love towards her big brother ^^

one of my fave scenes which I'm glad that they didn't make it typically video game-like, so it looks more flexible and realistic in spite of being in another world.

While the art is not so impressive, I’m glad to hear the familiar tracks in the background. Plus, the OP and ED are unexpectedly GOOD. I’m glad they didn’t pick a random moe-voiced idols, any rock music or just about any hip-hop. Meguro Masashi made sure the songs truly reminds you of the Persona 4 feel and what it is all about.

The final episode was a big troll. During my gameplay I did not come across that final boss. After the ending credits there’s a preview showing that the true end will come in DVD!

When the “True End” episode is out, again, Persona 4: The Animation proved to be a worthy adaptation. It is obviously related to the true ending of P4, but with something you won’t be able to see in the game. Have you ever thought that it is unfair that only the main character’s friends get all the “pursuing my true self” scenes everytime you go down their dungeon?

Well guess what. The MC gets it too! The true ending is worth watching, very satisfying.

Review: Fate/Zero (S1)

I tried to avoid this show, since it’s based on a novel. If I wanted to tweet about every episode, surely one or two type-moon fag would retort when I criticise something. Also, Fate/Stay Night was completely horrible. But since they say this show is a lot better than FSN (and I heard the composer is Yuki Kajiura, plus the season 2 OP artist is Kalafina), why not give it shot?

Just for your info, I’m not a type-moon fan, I don’t follow the visual novels or any other stuff related. So forgive me if my thoughts on certain things seem ignorant. Just consider me as a regular anime watcher. You have been warned.

Unfortunately, the first four or five episodes were incredibly dull for me. Too much verbal version of tl;dr, too much explanation about the master-servant system, where I think they can easily explain ‘visually’ or through one of the action scenes than giving us a full 40 minutes lecture on it. You have seven masters, they’re mages but not necessarily the most powerful mages ever – and each of them has ‘Servants’, of which some of them were kings/leaders of ye olden days, ironicaly. I thought Yuki Kajiura’s music would make me stick to it but the boringness of the initial storyline was overwhelming. And I’m rather disturbed by how the three biggest family of mages act all pompous – which makes me happy that the kid called Waver Velvet decided to prove them wrong. And this piqued my interest.

a tea party before they beat the crap out of each other

Then we have two daddies who fights in the field in the dark; one is the father of one of the most popular tsunderes in the anime world, and the other had a baby with a bimbo-ish homunculus D:

The former, hides in the ‘command room’ with Gilgamesh as his Servant, while the latter, in spite of being a mage prefers to use firearms in his fights. His Servant is Saber, which is disappointingly as bland as she was in FSN. Yeah yeah she’s an honourable knight, cute and all but as a warrior princess not even as GAR as Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail) or the newcomer Morgiana (Magi). Or perhaps I dislike her because I cannot accept that King Arthur is a girl :P. Meh it would work better if the female Arthur is not a small sized sixteen year old.

i think i know why King Arthur is a girl now... a wizard did it...

Which is why I became super delighted when Iskander pwn’d her with his army of bros, and this guy became the main reason why I had continued watching F/Z and all the way to season 2. Even her Excalibur final blow was like meh. His character is really has great as the size of his muscles!

The fights are unlike most shounens, I guess. You can see that they’re more tactical, even with the use of magic. So magic isn’t just any wand waving avada kadavra thingy. I think I can call the Masters in this anime ‘mahou seinen’. Plus there’s no definite good or evil sides, but you can tell which character is mentally sick (which makes him seem evil) and it makes you think… “DEFINE ‘GOOD’”. In this season there is not much of Gilgamesh in action, you can only see him with the kimochi warui priest guy talking about something psychological and philosophical blablabla.

Speaking of kimochi warui the concept of magic used makes me hate this ‘fandom’ so much, that I feel relieved that I have not indulged deeper into it. I think I’ll cover this in the second season’s review, along with other questionable stuff.

IMHO for the first season, they did a really grave mistake on making those 'lecture sessions' because I know some people especially the non-fate series fans got bored of it after a couple of episodes. It's a huge waste because the show is really worth watching, but the first impression was really repelling.
In conclusion, season 1 is not that special yet (just wait for my thoughts on S2). Except for Broskander :3

Tbh I dropped the show until someone told me to "watch it for Rider". I did. And I have no regrets.

Review: Phi Brain - Kami no Puzzle (S1)

Again, was deprived of shounen, so I decided to check out Phi Brain.

Unfortunately, the fandom of this anime (or manga) isn't big, so it's very hard to find fanarts or the specific fanarts in the internet. Maybe the anime doesn't have the charm other shounen shows have and i think I can understand why. But as someone who has seen this, I'd like to recommend it to you. It's not that great, but it's not so bad either. If you're bored and have nothing else to watch, just try this for the sake of killing time.

Studio: Sunrise

Previously I said that KARUTA is serious business. This time, PUZZLE is serious business.

Rather than having magical powers or ninja skills, this is a battle between intelligent people. Oh but it's not like they're challenging who's more knowledgeable than the other... it's more like how'd you use tactics to play an over-exaggerrated board game. It's not about quizzes or math whiz, but you're fighting against bad guys using the power of the brain - the typical shounen way. I think what makes this show unique is that almost all the main characters are very bright, regardless of their personality, and same goes for the villains' side. Like just because you look badass and lazy, doesn't mean your muscles overpower your brains. It's very different from an average shounen genre where you need to have at least one smart guy, average guy and dumb guy in one team.

So Phi Brain is about a high school kid named Daimon Kaito who walks around in casual clothes just because he has the priviledge as a title holder (Einstein). He's obsessed with puzzles, and he eats, sleeps and drink puzzles much to his childhood friend, Nonoha's annoyance. These two stumbled upon an unsolvable puzzle near their school and Kaito can't fight the urge to solve it. After going through one hell of a time solving it successfully, he was appointed as a Solver to solve other Kami no Puzzles. And the challengers are often the villain team called POG. But he does not fight alone, of course, there are a few other kids in his school with the 'title' (acknowledged as excellent Solvers) teams up with him.

And you'd think you have one character, who's not part of the smart guys, you might find her annoying but somehow I'm able to accept this 'busybody' girl. Well, she makes up with it with her power of memory and also as an all-rounder sporty girl.

something to look forward to?

But to conquer the world using puzzles and optimizing the "Phi Brain" kind of doesn't make much sense. For when the bad guy loses they'd honourably accept it... which i think, as bad guys they should've just cheated their way in. And other than puzzles another important theme is the bond between the characters. Other than that, there's this strange thing about feeling the emotions and meaning behind the puzzle. They can detect wether the puzzle has affection or hatred lolwhut i guess it takes another level of intelligence to comprehend that.

The most pointless thing about the show is that you can't seem to follow how the kids are solving the puzzle. It doesn't allow you to 'connect' with them, how they think and how they strategise, and learn to be as tactically smart as they are. They show you how the character hops from one point to the other, but not really see how the game went. Suddenly, you have a winner. If not, it's the climax where they need to decide which piece should they move. Rather than motivating viewers to improvise on their thinking skills, we're fed with the same old bonding and friendship thing. Not that it's bad but then I think it's missing the point. Well, at least this show makes the genius kids are the popular and most enviable schoolmates you could ever meet.

And then comes the even more supernatural stuff, other than the Orpheus armband which seem to accelerate your puzzle solving abilities. This supernatural interference is also one of the factors that prevents us from being able to 'connect' with the Solvers. Unfortunately, the supernatural stuff becomes even weirder near the end.

And they also have a yandere antagonist who seems pretty gay towards the protagonist. Oh don't be discourage to watch just because of that. There aren't that many subtle hints of homosexuality...

owait...

Art-wise, is just so-so. Character designs look cool too.

The reasons why I stayed loyal to the show is because of FukuJun (he played as a deliquent-like character and I love that guy most), the OST and the OP + ED is great too.

this one is by MAY'N and thanks to this i just realized how awesome her voice is. addicting song is addicting :3

If you want something a little different, like Chihayafuru, go ahead and digest this.

Review: Guilty Crown

So we have another anime about some weird mecha and rebel vs goverment thingy.

We also have a high school dude with the mysterious waif, and the childhood friend. Oh let's not forget about the classmate who has a crush on the main guy.

Great... it's Code Geass all over again.

Studio: Production I.G.

Unfortunately Guilty Crown isn't as good as Code Geass, of course. I think I only watched this because there weren't many action genre during 2011 fall. And then you have a very addicting OP song by Supercell entitled "My Dearest".

In GC we have a guy with a low self-esteem who accidentally stumbles into a pink haired slut who gave him some kind of sciency magical thing that made him able to extract weapons out of people's hearts. They're called VOIDs. And from an unexplained logic only people below 17 years old can produce these Voids, and hence the rebel army consists of a bunch of teenagers who just want to kick adults' arses. High school kids have an excuse to rule the school or something. Also, the most interesting part is each person has a unique Void; it can be a sword, a camera, bandages etc... and each has its own property.

And then this slut shamelessly barged into the boy's house, and not to mention he lives with a MILF who's completely okay with the slut living together. And eventually, as predicted, they fell for each other probably they were attracted to one another's insecurities (let's not consider that as a spoiler). The boy was obliged to join the rebel army (Funeral Parlor) because he has the power that was meant for the fukken hot blonde leader. This blonde guy can see Voids within the youths so they have to work together to make their terrorsit mission effective.

So all this chaotic thing is due to the Lost Christmas which happened 10 years prior to the story (it must alwaaaayyyyssss be ten years ago). Useless boy, hot blonde and slut seemed to be related to it, just that one of them experienced amnesia (oh this is so uncommon!). And since then some kind of magical cancer that turns people into breakable crystal started to spread. There are also science facility, which makes me question IS THIS REALLY SCIENCE FICTION with all your magical Void and magical cancer stuff??

you'll have a mahou shoujo transformation scene in a sci-fi show... and it makes me wonder where did she get those clothes?

Towards the end the supernatural magical part becomes even more ridiculous. I don't even want to mention it here lol.

pfft- i have nothing else to say about the plot. So I'm moving on to the characters a bit. Some of them are really great, but unfortunately for the main hero, he isn't anything special. There isn't much improvement in his character, but he did went downhill in the second half. Pink haired slut isn't anything special either. I don't feel anything between them, the so-called romance part, that's why i'm just guessing the attraction is due to both being boring characters. When hot blonde is the leader, all the tactical war stuff was superb. Then the low self-esteem guy takes the lead, things became stupider. But he has his 'shadow king', codename "Sugar". He's a bit of a scumbag but I kind of liked him. And also the seitoukaichou girl deserves to die, rather than that particular helpful girl... :(

Let's not forget the girl in the wheelchair, the GAR-est character in the anime, and the best partner for the useless guy if she's not always with the neko-girl. I also love the other blonde guy who sides the gov, he reminds me of Draco Malfoy, and it's really too bad he isn't given enough time to... like... join the good side because I think he's really a sweet boy.

in GC you control mechas by sleeping, and once you get attacked you'll experience some kind of orgasm lol. So where's Daryl's version...

Art and animation are pretty. Just that I'm most disturbed by slut girls impractical combat costume. Yeah i know she's an idol in the story (but that doesn't seem to be a big deal, and then she has no personality) but that doesn't mean it's completely okay to dress like a whore while you're fighting robots. Not gonna get started with why only the girls are given fanservice-y costume compared to the guys lol. Now let's move on to the mecha - not very memorable. I'm no mecha fan but from the very few robot themed shows I know a good mecha when i see one (I think? LOL).

I know some may enjoy this show but the overall quality isn't that great. Well, if the show is that terrible I would've dropped it halfway. But I successfully finished it, only to provide a negative review for those who stumbled upon my humble blog.

Gai and Daryl. I'm not even gonna bother putting Shu here cos he looks as boring as his character is muahahahah

Review: Infinite Stratos (anime)

 

Honestly, I couldn’t believe that I watched this till the end.

Studio: 8-bit
Original Author: Izuru Yumizuru

The reason why I picked this up is cos I heard that there was a reverse trap. IS is a story set somewhere in the future where only girls can use this semi-mecha–like thing for military purposes. There’s also a special school for girls to train themselves with the half-mecha thingy. Unfortunately, the girls appear to be like typical hormone raging teens and doesn’t look as though you need a mental strength test to enrol to the academy. Girls as young as 15 are allowed to own a special IS and play around with it like Barbie dolls. For the first time in IS history, a Japanese boy surprises the world by the news that he is the first guy to ever activate an IS.

oh btw it's an adaptation from a light novel. So do expect a bunch of lameness.

The craziness starts here; the boy is thrown into a girls school and, for some reason the stupid school administrator arranged his room in a girls dormitory. Logically thinking, why not give him a private room for himself… maybe just an old garage to keep the girls safe?

Ichika Orimura – a generic harem male character oblivious to the fact that he has many fans just cos he’s the only guy in school (he also has a scantily clad girl fan outside school). He often spurt out heroic phrases and is clueless that those words melt hormone raging girls’ hearts. Maybe it’s in his genes, cos his Onee-sama type sister has a lot of lesbian admirers too. Good thing that he's pretty good looking.

Imagine if Ichika is a fat pizza-faced nerd then I bet his presence is even more unwelcomed.

Houki Shinonono – Ichika’s “FIRST CHILDHOOD FRIEND” which she is so happy about. Generic tsundere. She hates her sister, who is actually the creator of IS (gasp, female inventor!)

Cecilia Alcott – A Pompous British girl who develops a crush on Ichika after he defeated her in a stupid IS battle.

Huang LinYin – Ichika’s second childhood friend, a generic loli and the most annoying type who believes she's Ichika's destined waifu.

Charlotte Dunois – The supposedly reverse trap who I think failed at the very beginning, yet she’s the most SANE character among the girls. And I personally think she should stay acting as a boy cos she looks cuter as a shota. If you ask me I'd pick Ichika x Char as my IS OTP.

Laura Bodewig – At first I liked her stoic attitude… but after the hero saved this iron lady from being consumed by iron, she declares Ichika to be his waifu and stole his first kiss. Her 180 turn of personality is a major turn off.

First half of the season focused on introducing new girls and a whole bunch of stupid girly stuff like fighting over a guy or trying to impress him with IS skills. Suddenly there’s a beach episode which I thought was totally pointless. But I guess they need an episode for the fanboys to fap. The last half got more serious but still didn’t help strengthen the plot.

No explanation on why IS is only operational by girls, why Ichika is the only guy who can. No explanation on the unmanned IS and no specific villain at all. It could probably be in the light novel, but they could’ve replaced the beach episode with something more intelligent. Oh once again, who cares about intelligence. Anime is all about fanservice! Boobs! Bikinis! Tsundere! Yandere!

This anime is obviously not about technological advancement in warfare but more like a special school for aspiring sluts. Owait, they ARE already sluts.

and this guy shall evaluate their level of sluttiness.

Okay somehow the anime OP keeps getting stuck in my head now and then, although I really dislike the genre. ED wasn’t appealing to me. Anyway, Charlotte’s would most likely be the reason why I started liking the seiyuu, Kana Hanazawa due to her natural voicing.

Conclusion: the anime sucked BIG TIME.

Review: Deadman Wonderland (Anime)

“I will be your deadman, with nothing but this blood on my hands”

First of all, I love the OP. It was performed by a Japanese band, Fade, but with perfectly good English. Though it reminds me of Coldrain.



Studio: Manglobe
Original Author: Kondou Kazuma, Kataoka Jinsei

The story sets in a prison called “Deadman Wonderland”. What a contradicting name. You might think that the prisoners are referred to as deadmen, and they had to work as circus performers to visitors, hence ‘wonderland’. At least they’ve got a job. But their job can be pretty gruesome especially when they had to go through a violent contest in front of the audience, who had no idea that the violence is real. And when you win in one of these contests you’ll get the candy which keeps you from dying after a few days. Because each prisoner has to wear a collar, which would poison him if he runs out of candy. So they gotta work hard to get them.

This is indeed a really fun way to torture criminals, imho.

Anyway, I watched this a year ago, so I have forgotten most of my feelings towards this anime. But I remember how cool it is to use your blood and construct them into weapons. Before I forgot to mention, DW has a secret facility that’s doing experiments on chosen humans who have the ability to control their blood. These are the real “deadmans”. Funny thing is, each individual has their own set of attack patterns. Anyway, they seem to have appeared right after the earthquake which occurred somewhere in Japan (duh, where else?). And the fight between the Deadmans, is a gambling entertainment for the rich people. Losers would have to sacrifice a part of their body, and the body parts lost still hold the properties of the original Deadman.

This is my favourite Deadman, Senji Kiyomasa. The BRO of the group. Ex-police officer who's awkward with women XD

The story centers around Ganta, an innocent kid in his preteens who suddenly had to witness his classmates being slaughtered. Then a horrifying guy whom he called the “Red Man” sort of inserted something into him, and it caused him to have super powers also. Then he fainted, and the next thing he knew is that he was sent to court and to jail. Jail is where he meets the mysterious albino girl, Shiro, who claims to be his childhood friend. So why is his childhood friend doing in some kind of jail too?

Since it’s only a 12 episode anime, a few modifications needed to be done. Hence the court scene didn’t make much sense, and the ending was like… oh you know what happens to animes adapted from an on-going manga.

So for those who hasn’t seen this, I recommend you to just read the manga… at least you get to the point from where these Deadmans really originated. Unless you want to hear more Hanazawa Kana, then go ahead with the anime.

Review: Angel Beats! (anime)

I actually watched this a bit later than most people did.

[WARNING: May Contain Spoilers]

Even after watching I don’t really get why people are all over it. Okay, I’m pretty impressed with the character backstories especially Yui and Maeda. For a pink haired psycho moe girl, she’s the one I like most, and more than Kanade. No, I don’t hate Kanade. I don't see Kanade having any personality compared to Yui. Just I don’t understand why the quiet girl is the most voted in ISML. I mean, c’mon! Yui’s story is totally inspiring! But none can beat Maeda’s!

Anyway, Angel Beats is about… er… the afterlife. Turns out the afterlife is a school. Complete with school uniform and classes and student council and sports day! And I guess you kind of have the chance to live a life again, but depends on how things turn out; you’d either become the NPC (Non Playable Character?) or disappear. Er… after disappearing, does that mean you reincarnate? Man… for a story about the sorrows of afterlife, it sure doesn’t seem too sad. Also, the story is like going through a video game. Everytime you KO you’ll get another chance to live. And with that fact too I don’t really get why the characters need to grieve if one party member is struck by a giant iron ball. The show has a great number of characters, but too bad we didn't get to know each and everyone of 'em. It's also unfair for the existing members to be ignored while the 'new members' pasts are discovered.

[IMO too many characters ain't suitable for 13 episode action anime]

And it’s funny how all this while the SSS team is doing nothing but chase something that’s not even evil. And I feel sad for Yurippe in the end… not cos I pity her crazy plans were in vain but how she’s all nice to Kanade in the end is quite hypocritical to me -__- I mean, she could’ve tried a more gentler approach to find out about Kanade! But I guess the crazy plans are just to make viewers laugh. (a concert to make a distraction? whut...)

i don't fancy the character design much. Hate how the eyes are drawn.

The songs are okay, not much into the OP “My Soul, Your Beats” until Yui version comes (sung by LiSa). That one was BAM, hits the spot. To be honest, Girls Dead Monster’s music didn’t appeal to me. If it did, I would’ve remembered all of the songs as I write this. Oh yeah, "My Song" was good… buy Iwasawa’s voice sound more like a sick girl trying to sing, so I downloaded Yui’s version instead.

Ok overall, I still don’t think it should dub as the “best series ever”, probably thanks to the fact that I don’t fancy reincarnation themes. Cos… well… you got a chance to live again why is there a need to be sad? I don’t like the storyline much but I do love the characters...

Review: Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi (anime)

I've left this blog for quite a while as to pay respect to Japan. However, it doesn't look like the situation is getting any better, now that they have the nuclear crisis to worry about. But they're not giving up, and I hope things get okay soon. And I think I should proceed to my pending reviews since the anime I'm watching since last season is almost over.

[WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS]

Ookami-san and the seven comrades (Ookami-san). Does the title sound familiar? Wait till you see the whole cast.

Mukashi.. mukashiiiii...

The story is actually about an organization that likes to help people doing random things, and the clients have to do something to return that favour as well. It started off with our protagonist chasing some bad guy in the back alley, but suddenly a rock flew past her and hit that guy the moment he took out his knife. This gave her the chance to knock him out with her Neko boxing gloves. Later that day, a voice said to her out of nowhere… “Ookami-san, I like you!"

Ookami-san and the 7 comrades are…

1. Ryouko Ookami – the Ookami-san that I’ve been babbling about, and it’s explicitly told in the official summary that she’s a tsundere. Heh what kind of spoiler is that, that’s so ruining the ‘surprise’. But I’m glad she’s not the annoying type. She’s named after the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, and she has some sort of history that she became the lone wolf.

2. Ringo Akai – Ryouko’s roommate and confidant, who’s often her partner. Ironically she’s named after the Red Riding Hood (literally her name means Apple Red). She likes to tease Ryouko about the shy guy who openly confessed to her, but at the same time loyally keeps her secret from him.

3. Ryoushi Morino – the low profile guy who’s in love with Ookami-san, regardless of her tendency to verbally abuse him. Such an M, really reminds me of someone =_=. But this guy’s biggest flaw is that he freaks out when people stare at him, cos he not used to having his existence acknowledged. The manliest moment he can display is when he’s hidden in the shadows shooting rocks with his slingshot. He’s based on the hunter from the same fairy tale.

The rest of the characters can be view here XD

I’m so sorry, I don’t recall the rest of the characters much, but most of them were adaptation from fairy tales. There’s Snow White and her seven little siblings, Cinderella and the ‘prince’ who liked to be kicked by her, gender bendered Momotaro and her 3 companions who went on a quest to Onigashima school. There’s also the Hare and the Turtle Aesop Fable, this time competing in a popularity contest! And also, the story about the Sheep and the Wolf thing… but the Sheep is the main villain. OH ANOTHER IRONY!

Basically what I like about the anime is the way they adapted the well known fairy tales of the west and also the east. It’s like watching another Hetalia. Unfortunately, the series had a very… verrryyyyy lousy ending. Major disappointment as I was expecting something MORE (this makes Maid-sama’s ending much more satisfactory) As expected from a light novel adaptation I guess. And this show has the lamest archenemy I’ve ever seen; his purpose of acting evil is not even worth mentioning! And Ookami-san also ended up making me sceptic when she shows how easily affected she was when she faced her past. I guess those years of training to become tsuntsun wasn’t enough.

[uhhh what's with the cute boxing gloves?]

You don’t really have to watch this. Ookami-san’s tsundere-ness is rather bland if you compare with Aisaka Taiga (ToraDora). It’s especially a turn off when it’s revealed too early what stereotype she is and it’s not as extreme as we expected her to be. I'm also disappointed that the 'wolf' theme of hers isn't used wisely. Anyway, if you want an amazingly f*cked up (and mixed up) fairy tale adaptation, go read Ludwig Kakumei (I wish they make an anime for it). Don’t be fooled by the bishounen at the cover, there are plenty of cute girls to see.

ohyeah before I forget, the OP and ED aren't my cup of tea. It's hard to like most of anisongs nowadays.

I guess that is all. Medetashi medetashi~

p/s: KUROKO VOICE…. is really A FUKKEN TURN OFF cos it’s actually quite a nuisance when you're trying to listen/read the subs of the character dialogues then the narrator butts in for no reason.

review: Sengoku Basara 2 (anime)

[WARNING: May include spoilers!]

A sequel to Sengoku Basara anime, yet another adaptation of my favourite CAPCOM video game. Not gonna review much on the characters this time, but I’m just gonna say something about the newcomers.

Hideyoshi Toyotomi – historically, the second great ruler for the Sengoku Period was also known as ‘monkey’, hence his gorilla-ish looks. It is implied in the anime that he has a lover (not sure if it’s mentioned in the game cos I played the Japanese version) and was also Keiji Maeda’s acquaintance. Despite of seeming ridiculously brutal in front of his foes, he was somewhat kind to his beloved tactician.

Takenaka Hanbei – Toyotomi’s beloved masked tactician, who wears a purple mask and whips a chainsword thingy. Supposedly, he’s a great tactician though I think his kidnapping method is rather dirty. Can’t help thinking that this guy is gay, especially by the way he calls people by their first names.

Miyamoto Musashi – in popular belief, he’s a dual sword user and relatively strong. And in SenBasa’s case, he wields a wooden sword and an oar.

[miyamoto musashi, Sengoku Basara version]

Once again, I dislike the way each characters powers act like an atom bomb the DBZ style since it’s not even THAT explosive in the video game. And what’s with drying off the sea shore with a single punch?? Now that’s a bit too much. Now if only we can just do that in the game, destroy half the stage with just one swing.

However, this time I’m rather satisfied with the story and the character development (though I’m pretty sure they f*cked up history again). The rivals, Masamune Date and Yukimura Sanada are splitting ways, fighting their own battles yet still thinking of each other. Awww….

Ahem, anyway, Masamune Date sort of lost his “Right Eye” by Hanbei’s dirty trick, and henceforth his army grew weaker without Katakura Kojuuro’s intelligence. Poor Masamune is ‘nothing’ without his Right Eye :3 Meanwhile Sanada travels far away to form an alliance with another army, and along the way losing one of his ally forever, due to his narrow-minded leadership. Though regretting his actions, he still continued his journey as ordered by Shingen Takeda.

Okay, it’s been a while since I last watched this. I’m not sure what I can remember about the main storyline. I’ll just tell you about my favourite parts then. First is the episode where the ‘biker gang’ cooperates with the ‘pirates’, that sure was interesting! Then Yukimura Sanada versus Miyamoto Musashi! Also the return of Kotaro Fuuma and Matsunaga Hisahide. And also hints of characters that were going to appear in Sengoku Basara 3 (which is already out prior to this review). Nice way of introducing them, by the way.

[here comes another bishounen! Mitsunari Ishida :3]

OP SWORD SUMMIT WAS THE BOMB. It’s TM Revolution again wheeee~~~!! And… and my darling Takehito Koyasu again (as Sarutobi Sasuke) :3

Conclusion: I like it better than the 1st season ;D

Review: Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu

[WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS]

I realized that it's about a year since Baka To Test to Shoukanjuu aired (short BakaTest), but I'm always late when it comes to reviews. Just don't give a fark, I just feel like writing. Anyway, before you start reading... I'm gonna have to warn you that it's a goddamn lame review :(

[disclaimer: image does not belong to me]

Studio: Silver Link
Original Author: Kenji Inoue
Literal meaning: Idiots and Tests and Summoned Beings

As the image shows, it's about a school life. And it's not an ordinary school life either cos in this school you can actually summon a chibi version of yourself to battle with others. But it's not easy to simply summon them, cos in order to have high Health Points (HP) and strong Attack Points you need to get high marks in your tests. And the story mostly revolves around the idiots of F class.

Of course, if the author had picked the A class students there wouldn't be any story, would it? Nah Special A can make it happen, and people from other classes worship them like gods. While the A class students in BakaTest are portrayed as arrogant b1tches.

Here's brief description on our beloved idiots:
1. Akihisa Yoshii - the protagonist and the main idiot of the story. He's not such a bad guy really, but IMO he needs to work a little harder. I mean, he's not THAT dumb when it comes to friendship and all. Well at least he knows how to cook.

2. Mizuki Himeji - Supposed to be in A class, but she was sick during a test that caused her to fail and be thrown into F class. When given a chance to retake a test to transfer into A class, she purposedly failed cos she wanted to stick to the F class just because the guy she likes is there. Stupid ne? Moreover, she fell in love with the guy who happened to be kind to her when she fainted. Pfff anybody could have done that! Double stupid.

3. Yuuji Sakamoto - The class representative. He's also supposedly a smart guy, but he's lazy so that's why he's in F. Doesn't really give a sh1t about being in that class either. That yandere who's obsessed with him is his childhood friend, but he is not comfortable with it. Probably cos he's gay with Yoshii.

4. Minami Shimada - An extremely abusive tsundere who has inferiority complex about her flat chest. After many years of staying in Germany, she has problems reading kanji, thus her most powerful subject is math. For some reason, she also likes the idiot Himeji likes. WHY AHH?? Anyways, unlike most typical tsunderes, she is a good cook! *_*

5. Kouta Tsuchiya - aka Muttsurini, the most perverted character in BakaTest and is not ashamed to display his perverted actions. His hobby is photography... ahem... "photography". His trademark is his tendacy to nosebleed, and his best subject is Health Education... unlucky for him not 'practically' yet.

5. Hideyoshi Kinoshita - THIS. IS. THE. LIMELIGHT. OF BAKATEST! For the first time I'm seeing moe-tards being gay over a guy. To be honest I love traps, Hideyoshi is one of my top 10 but not top 3, and he ain't the most appealing trap to me. It's funny that, he's one of the F class students while his twin sister is in A class. Though he isn't as smart as the latter, his acting skills is a great weapon to start a havoc between classes :3

And for those who have not seen him DON'T YOU DARE GOOGLE HIS IMAGE 8D.

(kinda wish he's in ISML)

The rest of the characters are from different classes, go watch the anime if you're curious about them. They're just as funny as these idiots!

[shoukanjuu DO WANT!]

Now then, as I watched this anime, I was reminded by my secondary school days. There wasn't any obvious conflict between classes, but I was aware that the lower grade classes see the upper classes as somewhat arrogant. In turn, the geniuses see them as... well, idiots. I can't remember how exactly I felt; I was in A class for long but I had a friend from each of the other classes. But one thing I remember is that, just like the classes in BakaTest, the classroom condition improves from F to A. The last two years of my school life, the top classes have their own personal classrooms, so we did not have to worry about the evening session stealing our belongings left in the desks.

Back to the story. Can't remember much though. I remember thinking "Why the hell am I watching this??" In the end I was more attracted to the theme used. Not only because of the video game influence, but also how universal it was. I mean, in one anime you can see a mixture of various stereotypes; Tsundere, yandere, trap... yaoi, yuri, brother complex, imouto-type etc, and all of them were non-canon but portrayed in a sarcastic way (at least, that was how I felt). That was actually the main reason why i liked BakaTest. Didn't regret picking it up. For those who have not, please watch this if you want something for teh lulz.

Not into the OP much but the EDs are LOVE. The sequences as well. Speaking of ED, I keep forgetting to download Baka go Home!

[oh yeah and imo Akihisa Yoshii as dress is cuter than Hideyoshi kthxbai. ]

Last but not least, "life is not all about grades" :3

Review: DURARARA!!

[WARNING: May contain spoilers!]
[WARNING Ver.2: Content may be harsh!!]

[disclaimer: image does not belong to me]

Summary for Durarara!! or in short DRRR!! is about an urban legend that circulates around Ikebukuro that a Headless Rider randomly roam the streets... doing dunno what. The main protagonist, a normal looking from the countryside called Ryugamine Mikado was warned by his childhood friend Masaomi Kida to be careful of several weird guys; like the man in bartender suit, a parkour loving informant and especially a gang called Dollars and Yellow Scarves. But Ryugamine eventually got caught up into the mess and at the same time enduring his typical teenage life at school (such as having a crush on a girl).

Towards the end you’d see that the normal characters are actually masterminds of something while the not so normal characters just wanted to lead a normal life. OMG I seriously just realized this! And I was about to say that the first half was intriguing but the second half makes you wonder where it is going...?

Celty Sturluson, the headless rider

First there was this modern dullahan who cruises the city like minah rempit (term "biker gang girl" in Malaysia) with yellow cat-eared helmet. At first I thought Celty Sturluson was a total enigma, but turns out she’s not obliged to show her headless body to those she’s acquainted with. And she can be friends with just about anyone and is most of the time in the neutral zone. I like her as a mysterious esper, but when she decided to become more human (by developing a romantic relationship with an illegal doctor) it’s not cool anymore.

And I thought DRRR! is all about her. But we also get the chance to get to know a vending machine thrower named Shizuo Heiwajima... aka Shizzy-chan. Not only vending machines, he has the capability of bending metals with his bare hands. His super strength is a mystery. He can punch a thousand enemies in one go just like in hack and slash games. Yet in contrast with his behaviour, he admits that he hates violence. Although he is dere to his brother it wasn’t enough to make me like him because he experiences PMS... ALL THE TIME.

mutual loveerrrrrssss! don't deny it!!!

Now here comes the yummy part; He’s particular interested in Izaya Orihara in an obsessive way. Once he sees Izaya-kun in the street, he would alwaaaaays take the opportunity to play tag with him. Izaya is the hard-to-get partner!! I don’t believe it when they say they instantly hated each since their first meeting pffff. Both are just being tsun to one another. COME ON GUYS, the FANARTS are very CONVINCING!!! Cos even if you hate someone so much doesn’t mean you have to chase him all over the place. Anyway Izaya-kun is the sly double/triple/quadruple agent of the city. Gee I didn’t know that you can make a living by ruining other people’s lives.

Yellow Scarves are the dominant gangster group whose members are not ashamed to hide the fact that they’re yellow fetish. They were dormant until much later when they hear about Dollar’s activities. Dollars are colourless, and they’re not really a group of delinquents but just some random cyberbuddies. Guess who their leaders are?!?! One of those normal guys....

I'm running out of ideas to rant on the other random people. A lovesick dude, a persistent stalker, Russian sushi promoter, a gang of Otaku, and a slasher who believes slashing is one way to love one another.

Soooooo...

Is the anime as supernatural as I thought it was...?

Nay. The occult part comes now and then, but there are also those realistic shit. There are times where I got confused whether this story sci-fi or what. DRRR! is deep, but not something you can dub as “exciting” or leaving any huge impact. I still like it nonetheless. Recommended for those who’d love to see some serious mysterious randomness for a change. Oh yea... I think the hidden theme in this anime is ROMANCE. In a simple yet.... peculiar way. Surprising for me as well.

2 OPs and 2 EDs for the whole season are great, so are the sequences.
Let’s not forget the cast, as they were the main factor that seduced me to watch DRRR!! It was nice to see the violent side of Daisuke Ono as Shizzy-chan, who voice acted as the gentlemanly butler in Kuroshitsuji before this. And also Hiroshi Kamiya who voice acted as the kuudere Tieria of Gundam 00 this time as a psychopath. However, my top faves Jun Fukuyama and Mamoru Miyano were a bit disappointing (cos i prefer them being... OH SO FABULOUS~~~~)

I heard the manga has more Guro. I'd like to read it to know what's the real plot...

Review: Sengoku Basara

[WARNING: May Contain Spoilers]


[Disclaimer: image does not belong to me]

This is an adaptation of a video game with the same name, which is based on Sengoku Jidai that ranged from the 15th to 17th century. It's translated as Warring States period, and is perhaps one of the most popular chapters of Japanese history. Warlords fought against one another to conquer their land (yet known as Japan), and many legendary heroes were born from within that period; most notably the Crimson Warrior and The One Eyed Dragon. And not to forget, the Demon King.


What would you do if the bird does not sing?
"Kill it if it does not sing."
"Make it want to sing."
"Wait until it sings."

The poem figuratively describes the different styles of leadership of the great rules of Japan; Oda Nobunaga, Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Tokugawa Ieyasu respectively.

Just like in the video game, Oda stays true to his nickname the "Demon King" and is the primary antagonist of te first season. With the help of his wife, Nouhime and most loyal vassal, Ranmaru Mori (who's supposed to be a bishounen, but Capcom's version he's a candy-loving shota). As in the true story, Shingen Takeda and Kenshin Uesugi are mutual rivals. Rempit-ing on a horse, Masamune Date is somehow rivalled with the masochist Yukimura Sanada (My sis is gonna kill me if she sees this) when in history they're not really archenemies.

Well if you play the game, and also Samurai Warriors (or Sengoku Musou) you'll see how fucked up CAPCOM version is. Not that I hate it, but Koei's adaptation of Sengoku Jidai is more accurate. The wonderful part of Sengoku Basara is the colourfulness and the character designs. Storywise, a bit too much tweak here and there, and it gets worse in the anime. I think Tokugawa died a bit too early. It's weird because he's the last shogun. I dunno what to say about the plot. I'm not well versed with the Sengoku Jidai history, I think my sister knows better (she even remembers the war names!).
But at least they have epic characters to make up for it.

And if you think the plot is sucky, wait till you see the OVERDOSE SHOUNEN ACTION SCENES THAT REMINDS YOU OF DRAGON BALLZZZ. Well of course i'm okay with the game where Yukimura swings his fiery spear and Masamune shooting lightning bolts with three swords with each hands... but seeing flashes of red and blue clashing to one another in a combat is not what I want to see in an action movie. And the worst part is whenever Oda appears, the clouds turn black, storm approaching the area to emphasize that he was really a messenger from hell. Don't let me start with Tadakatsu Honda, Tokugawa's general also known as "The Warrior who surpassed Death itself"; cos he is portrayed as a robot.... =_=;;

Art-wise, I think they look fatter as 2D compared to their video game counterparts. I personally prefer the characters as 3D. The guys look hot anyway, but the girls are much cuter in the game.

The primary ladies of the game..

anime version... not so moe anymoar D:


T3H LAWLZ!! Is this how a relationship between a daimyou and his kunoiochi should be like??? *blushes*

Don't be fooled by Oichi-hime's vulnerable appearance!! Although she wears pink, she's actually an emo faggot. Next to her is her beloved husband, the super sentai-ish Nagamasa Azai. FUN FACT: They're a cannon Tsundere-Yandere pairing :D

OP is JAP by Abingdon Boys School. The group had been contributing their songs since the first game came out, and I'm glad to listen to them again in the anime. but my favourite SenBasa will always be Blade Chord :3

Second season is out already, I'm putting it on hold. I fear another disappointment, but the first few episodes are promising. I should probably try not to be so serious about the accuracy of SenBasa to the Warring States Period, just that they're using the legend's name with a rewritten history.

oh btw my favourite character is none other than...

SARUTOBI SASUKE!!!!

yeah so typical of me since I like ninjas... who are MALE and has awesome loyalty to his "danna".